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Paw Paw River musky
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713 Posts
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December 20, 2013 - 7:13 am
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So yesterday I ditched out of work early and went after steelhead on the Paw Paw River. I was in a spot where I didn't really expect to run into anybody and these two guys show up, probably early 20's. We get to talking and the one guy starts telling me about how they fish this river all the time, and about how they have a couple holes downriver from where we were at where they catch a bunch of walleyes and big pike. He then starts telling me about this giant his buddy caught recently from one of those spots. He pulls out his phone and proceeds to show me a picture of a big musky! He said they took it up to D and R Sports and they told him it was a Tiger, but in the picture it sure looked like a northern strain to me. Although it was a pretty good pic it was tough for me to tell for sure because it was a vertical hold and all I could really see was the back of the fish, and couldn't really see the sides of the fish or the fins for identification. He also claimed they weighed it at 43lbs, and although it was certainly big I don't think it was near 43lbs, probably more around 20lbs, but still an impressive fish for that little river. I've heard a few other rumors of muskies in the Paw Paw, this was the first type of "proof" of any type I've seen.

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841 Posts
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December 20, 2013 - 8:05 am
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Dang.

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1318 Posts
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December 20, 2013 - 10:34 am
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I have heard numerous claims of muskies in the Paw Paw, including one claim that was connected to a DNR survey.
However, I had never seen physical evidence.

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December 20, 2013 - 10:46 am
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Granted this picture could have come from anywhere, but he never gave me the impression that he was full of it, and I'm used to hearing BS musky stories. I'm kicking myself for not asking if he'd text me the picture.

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1318 Posts
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December 20, 2013 - 2:16 pm
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I have heard rumors of muskies in the lake as well.

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1937 Posts
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December 20, 2013 - 8:24 pm
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Could it be an escapee from the hatchery many moons ago?

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December 22, 2013 - 11:01 am
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definitely not a difficult trip from the hatchery to there… hopefully it wasn't too hard for the 100k+ steelhead we dumped in that creek from last years harvest [smilie=biggrin.gif]

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December 27, 2013 - 9:25 pm
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Well that's a catchy title for me – the new house is on the Paw Paw! We've caught & seen a pile of fish so far…but no skis yet. Did talk to a salmon guy who caught a 42"er this fall, and he seemed believable. She is a long, twisty river and with no dams to the lake, probably has had a lot of interesting critters take up residence.

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January 2, 2014 - 11:28 am
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I see a 50"er was registered for Master Angler, I assume its the same fish you saw/heard about Ryan.

I checked with the DNR office, and the guy did not bring the fish in nor did he want to send in a fin clip. So it was photo verified only, as a Northern strain, and a likely Wolf Lake escapee… But I would have liked to have the DNA confirmation anyway!

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January 2, 2014 - 11:32 am
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"Duke" said:
I see a 50"er was registered for Master Angler, I assume its the same fish you saw/heard about Ryan.

I checked with the DNR office, and the guy did not bring the fish in nor did he want to send in a fin clip. So it was photo verified only, as a Northern strain, and a likely Wolf Lake escapee… But I would have liked to have the DNA confirmation anyway!

Very interesting. I assume it was the same fish he was telling me about. I'll be fishing that river quite a bit between now and musky season, if I run into them again I will try to get a little more info and the picture.

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